Modern Medical Laboratory Journal

Four-dimensional (4D) bioprinting, in which the concept of time is integrated with three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting as the fourth dimension, has currently emerged as the next-generation solution of tissue engineering as it presents the possibility of constructing complex, functional structures. 4D bioprinting can be used to fabricate dynamic 3D-patterned biological architectures that will change their shapes under various stimuli by employing stimuli-responsive materials.
In 2014, Skylar Tibbits, the director of the Self-Assembly Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), first demonstrated four-dimensional (4D) printing as a technology entailed multi-material prints with the capability to transform over time, or a customized material system that can change from one shape to another. This technology has been quickly applied to the field of tissue engineering, the concept of time can be integrated within 3D bioprinting technology as the fourth dimension, leading to the development of 4D bioprinting. By using stimuli-responsive materials, 4D bioprinting can be used to fabricate various 3D designed biologically active architectures capable of dynamic configuration transformations in response to different desired stimuli over time, addressing the limitations of 3D bioprinting.
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